A blog about my experience with the Community Stewardship Program at the Beechwood Wetland site (and the surrounding area) along the Don River in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. There will be pictures, anecdotes and garlic mustard galore.

Wednesday, July 08, 2009

I wandered over to Marnie's Point this morning for a look-see. It takes a lot more effort to get around the site now that things are growing thick and fast. There aren't any convenient gravel paths or boardwalks at this wetland! I don't mind stomping on the invasive stuff, but I try not to inflict too much collateral damage on the plants I want to encourage.

Some things are doing very well on the point:

(Uh-oh. I'll get that one later.)

Oh crap, another loosestrife:

Swamp? Purple? This stalk looks like swamp loosestrife:

Andy's wildflower pages are often helpful, but having looked at the two pics of purple loosestrife on that page, I still can't make up my mind. The flower spike in the first shot looks quite dense and even, and in the second there seem to be those separate rings of flowers. His pictures of swamp loosestrife show those rings quite spaced out. Hm, what to do, what to do. Kill the evil alien purple loosestrife or cherish the attractive native swamp loosestrife? I think I'm probably dealing with purple loosestrife here, and will go ahead and uproot it unless I get a last-minute call from the governor.

Something's eaten the tops off a few of the cup plants:

Broad-leaved arrowhead in the pond:

Aren't those leaves cool? According to Wetland Plants of Ontario, "The seeds and tubers (especially the tubers) are valuable food for waterfowl and marsh birds, such as canvasbacks, mallards, scaups, teals, wood ducks, geese and rails. Muskrats and porcupines eat the leaves and tubers."

Joe-Pye weed is beginning to bloom beside the pond:

Dig that crazy grapevine:

There's also some viper's bugloss on the point:

Same old story: it's a joy to behold but it's on my list of alien plants, so it must go. Look at it batting those long eyelashes:

Another crowd favourite that's actually an alien is Queen Anne's Lace. I like the way they're tinged with pink in the beginning, before ending up as the familiar white flower: